Electric-switch button.



M. C. FRANK.

ELECTRIC SWITCH BUTTON. APPLICATION FILED 05c. 13, 19:5.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

MAXWELL C. FRANK, OF PIEDMONT, CALIFORNIA.

ELECTRIC-SWITCH BUTTON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed December 13, 1915. Serial No; 66,460.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAXWELL C. FRANK,

citizen of the United States, residing at Piedmont, county of Alameda,State Of\ California, have" invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Electric-Switch But tons, whereof the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric switch buttons and especially tomeans of rendering visible, the buttons for turning on and off electriclights.

The object of the invention is to enable the user to find such buttonsin the dark,

and avoid the annoyance and danger of groping in the dark for the same.

In carrying out the invention I provide a luminous cap, which may bemade of glass or other transparent material with a luminous materialbehind it. This cap I apply to the button, either by setting it in ahole cut in an existing button for the purpose, or by setting it in thematerial of the button in the process of constructing the latter.

In the accompanying one sheet of drawing, I have illustrated theinvention in number of figures. I

Figure 1 is a plan View of an ordinary wall plate with two push buttonswith my invention applied to one of them. Fig. 2 is a side view of thesame, but with the out button partly in section to show a method ofapplying the invention. Fig. 3 is a cross section, on a larger scale, ofthe cap of Figs.

1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a similar view, but with the luminous material in thehollow glass cap, in powdered form, held in place and protected by awasher, and without filling. Fig. 5 is also a similar view, but with thecap free from filling, and with a fiat top instead of the curved orrounded top of the other figures. Fig. 6 is a top view of a snap switchbutton with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 7 is a side view of thesame, partly in section to show the application of the cap. Figs. 8, 9and 10 are enlarged cross sections showing various forms of caps, andthe methods of applying them to the buttons of a snap switch.

In these figures: 1 represents a wall plate, secured to the wall 2, bythe screws 3, and carrying the two push buttons, 4 and 5. The button 5,I assume to be the on button, that being the one to which I prefer toapply my luminous cap. The cap is composed of the glass, or othertransparent body, (3, in the form of a thimble, and the luminous lining7 in its interior. The luminous lining may be a thin layer of luminousmaterial, as shown in most of the figures or it may fill all orpart ofthe hollow of the cap, as seen in Figs. 1, 7 and 10. In the latter casea closure 8 is applied below the luminous material, to protect it.

The method of applying the luminous cap to the button is as follows, vizz-The button may be made of ashell 9, see Fig. 2, of

vulcanite, or other suitable material, and the cap set therein, andsecured by' filling the shell with a plastic on fusible cement, orplaster, 10, or other suitable material and this substance may fill thecap also, if de sired. If the material used should be a nonadhesivesubstance, the cap may be provided with a basal flange 11, which looksit in position. If the button is to be formed of vulcanite, or castmaterial, the cap may be set ,in the material before it is vulcanized,or in position if cast. In applying the cap to existing buttons, thebutton may be bored out at its top to receive the cap, and the lattermay then be cemented or secured therein with any suitable material, asat 12,

in Fig. 9, or it may be threaded as at 13, in Fig. 10.

Having thus described my invention, and an embodiment of it, in thefull, clear and exact terms required by law, and knowing that itcomprises novel, useful and valuable improvements in the art to which itpertains, I here state that I do not wish to be limited to the preciseconstruction and arrangement of the several parts, as herein set forth,as the same may be variously modified by a skilled mechanic withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

What I'claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is the following, to wit 1. In combination with a switch button,a cap of transparent material covering a luminous substance, embedded inthe material of the button and projecting outwardly therefrom.

2. In combination with a switch button, a luminous hollow shell,embedded in the material of the button, and filled with plastic vsubstance.

3. In combination with a switch button, a

6. In combination with an electric switch button, a glass cap of thimbleform, having a luminous substance applied thereon, and a basal flang tosecure said cap to said button.

In testimony that I claim the'foregoing I have hereto set my hand in thepresence of two Witnesses, this 10th day of November, 1915.

MAXWELL C. FRANK.

Witnesses:

R. MAUDE WOLFE, S A. ALVES.

